Two Halves Make A Broken Whole
by Sailor J-chanDuoxHilde 4ever
Summary: Celebrations for the death of Seru are cut short as Juuhachi goes into labor 5 months early. The baby is born with a rare deformity with a 1 in 4 chance of survival. And the help they need comes fom the least likely person. Maron. AU, R/R! Ch. 9 up!
1. Secrets Revealed

Disclaimer-Please don't sue me, I'm a poor little girl. I own nothing but my complete adoration for DBZ and my brain.

Summary-While at Kami's Lookout after the Seru Games, Juuhachi collapses and accidentally admits that she's pregnant. The child's born with a deadly condition that's only been seen 4 times before…and the odds aren't stacked in her favor. Can little Marron Chestnut pull through?

Author's Note-Since Juroko was killed by Seru, he got wished back. Goku isn't dead, though Gohan was the one to defeat Seru. Takes place in alternate timeline where everything happened 3 years early.

Ages: All adults-23-ish

Gohan-7

Mirai Turankusu-17

Turankusu, Akane (OC)-a few months

Goten-not even a few hours old

Marron-just born

Main Couple: Kururin/Juuhachi

Side Couples: Goku/Chichi Bejita/Buruma Tienshinhan/Rancha 

Chapter One-Juunana and Mirai Turankusu Ain't Happy…

"Your wish has been granted," Shenrongu growled, his eyes flashing red. In the far end of the plateau, Juroko, Juunana, and Juuhachi began to glow with blue light. "And I now bid you farewell." As Shenrongu disappeared, the blue light faded away.

"Are we…human again?" Juroko gasped in his Arnold Swartzchanager (Did I spell that right? ^_^) voice. 

"Yep," Mirai Turankusu said, smiling. Juroko was the only Jinzinzougen he could tolerate, seeing how he had not destroyed his timeline like the other two. "Of course, only your brains and a few **choice** (cough cough) organs are real again, so it basically means your emotions, conscious, etc., are restored."

Suddenly, Juuhachi was starting to feel woozy and nauseous. _"Oh no!" _she thought. _"Not here! Is it time?"_ She mentally counted. _"It's only been 4 months!"_

Her thoughts were cut off as she had the sharp experience of falling to her knees, screaming.

"Juu-chan!" Kururin yelled, surprising everyone in the room as he ran to her. He kneeled next to her and put both his hands on her shoulders. "Are you okay? Is it…"

"Kururin-chan, hai, I think it is," she gasped, searing pain tearing through her back and stomach.

Kururin cursed, scowling with a mix of anger and fear. "I was hoping this wouldn't happen. Why didn't you tell me it only takes 4 months?"

"It's not supposed to!"

Kururin's face went dead white. "Our child is early?!" 

Every last one of them was jarred into shocked silence. Goku, Gohan, Mirai Turankusu, Tienshinhan, Chiaotzu, Pikoro, Juunana, Juroko, Dinde, Popo, and even Bejita's eyes flew open in shock. (Imagine Anime wide-eyes, each getting their own turn) 

How could they have been so blind? The kiss, the looks, Kururin destroying the remote, Juuhachi's recent late-night disappearing acts…God, they'd been stupid! Juunana had noticed that Juuhachi had been putting on a little weight, but he'd thought nothing of it. 

"Are…are you serious?" Goku choked out, barely able to talk.

"Of course I'm serious, stupid!" Juuhachi yelled, more in pain than in anger.

Kururin eyed his best friend, giving him a I'll-tell-you-later-you-ask-me-now-and-suffer-the-consequences look. "Juuhachi, calm down. It's still early. You have time."

"Easy for you to say," she hissed trough her teeth, her face going red.

"Hai, it is," Kururin muttered, frowning. He turned his gaze towards Dinde. "You know anything about birth?"

"Um, no," Dinde admitted.

He turned his gaze back towards Juuhachi, muttering curses, then turned to Goku. "Goku, think you can transport us to a hospital?"

"Um, I…guess," Goku said, still trying to grasp onto the situation.

"Forget it!" Juuhachi yelled. "We have to let me fade in the public's eye. I show up right after the Seru Games and they'll kill both of us." They all knew she was talking about the baby.

"Right." Kururin moved his gaze back to Goku. "Well, do you know anyone who could help?"

"Well, I guess…Buruma or Chichi."

"Good. Get one of them."

Kururin's voice was so demanding and strained that the second strongest man in the universe was afraid to disobey. "Um…okay." Goku pressed two fingers against his forehead and disappeared.

REVIEW PLEASE!


	2. Getting Help

Disclaimer-Me no own. No money me make. Me flat broke. Me unhappy.

Summary-You know summary. Me gave you on the webpage.

Note-From now on, me only use Japanese names. Not Japanese terms.

Getting Help

Goku transported himself to his tiny house in the 439 Mountain Area. "Chichi!" he yelled.

Gyo-Mou came barreling out. "Goku!" he exclaimed. "Get inside now! Chichi just had your second son!"

"Oh my God!!" Goku yelled, running inside.

"Goku!" Chichi yelled. She was sitting on the couch, holding a tiny bundle. "Where have you been?"

Goku ignored the question. Instead he leaned down and kissed his wife. "Did it all go over okay?" he asked.

"Yes," Chichi answered. She lifted up the bundle, to show a boy who looked exactly like Goku. "His name's Goten."

There was a contented silence before Gyo-Mou broke in. "Goku, I don't mean to kill the moment, but you seemed in an awful rush to be here. Is something wrong?"

"Is Gohan all right?" Chichi asked, her happy eyes turning worried.

"No!" Goku exclaimed. "Gohan is fine. Chichi, do you remember Juuhachi-gou?"

"How could I forget? She tried to kill you!"

"Why?" Gyo-Mou asked.

"Apparently, she and Kururin somehow got together without us knowing it. As of right now, she's in labor!"

"OH MY GOD!" Chichi screamed.

Goten started crying.

"Shh, shh," Chichi ordered, gently rocking Goten. He quieted down and fell asleep. (Easy-going kid, huh?)

"I was hoping you could help us, but since you just had Goten, I'll go get Buruma instead." He stood up from the couch, where he had sat down for the moment. "I have to go get Buruma now. But as soon as I get her, Gohan and I will come home."

"Good luck!" Chichi called as Goku teleported out.

Goku landed on the CC front lawn. Buruma, with baby Turankusu in her arms, stood in the doorway. "Goku!" she yelled happily when she saw him. But one look at his face told her something was wrong. Her heart skipped a beat. "What's wrong? Are Bejita and Mirai okay?"

"Oh, they're fine!" Goku said. "Don't worry about that."

"Well, what's wrong?" Buruma demanded.

"You remember Juuhachi-gou, right?"

"Yeah," Buruma answered. "The cyborg who tried to kill you. What about her?"

"Well, Juuhachi-gou is in labor with Kururin's child!"

"OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 

"Yeah!" Goku said. "And we need your help. Juuhachi can't do it on her own."

"Fine, I'll go." Buruma went inside the house to hand Turankusu to her mother, Usagi. She went out again, carrying a bag. "But Kururin's got some explaining to do."

Goku held Buruma's arm, stuck two fingers to his forehead, and teleported them to Kami's Tower.

REVIEW!!


	3. Help's On The Way

Disclaimer-I don't own the characters…but my story is very original! ^-^

Help's On The Way

Goku and Buruma once again appeared on Kami's Lookout. This was the scene: Juuhachi was on the floor looking ready to kill someone, Kururin was next to her trying to top her from actually killing someone, Juunana also looked ready to kill someone, namely Kururin, and everyone else was still in a state of shock.

Buruma quickly took control of the situation. "All right, everyone back!" she yelled. "Not you, Kururin! (Hehe, I couldn't resist) Hey, Tienshinhan!" 

"Yeah?" he called back.

"You think Rancha could come help me?"

"Yeah, I'll get her." Tienshinhan ran off the edge of the Lookout and flew out of sight towards his home.

"All right. For the rest of you…Juunana, Kururin, help me get Juuhachi into that room." She pointed to a room that actually had a door. "Juuroko, you stand by on emergency guard. The rest of you can either stick around or go home."

Goku put a hand on Gohan's shoulder. "Come on, son. I promised your mother we'd get home." 

"Okay, Dad," Gohan said, allowing himself to be transported away.

"Bejita, Mirai, for God's sakes, could you go home and make sure my mother hasn't killed Turankusu yet?"

Both of them practically shuddered at the thought of Usagi with Turankusu, and flew out of there.

No else moved, and before long, Tienshinhan had returned with Rancha and Akane. Rancha quickly transferred her baby to Tienshinhan and ran over to Buruma. "Where is she?" Rancha demanded. "Where's Juuhachi?"

"In here." Buruma grabbed Rancha's arm and dragged her into the room, which had now been dubbed 'The Birthing Chambers'.

Over the course of three hours, not much had changed. Except, of course, that Goku, Gohan, Bejita, and Mirai had come back, toting Chichi, Gyo-Mou, Chibi Turankusu, Usagi, and Toshi. (That's Buruma's dad) So, in short, _everyone_ was there.

Only Rancha and Buruma were actually inside the 'Birthing Chambers' with Juuhachi. And inside, there was a lot more chaos.

It was about to get worse.

Mwhahahahaha! Cliffy! I wasn't going to be mean and make a cliffy, but I needed an excuse for another chapter! REVIEW!


	4. Beating Heart

Disclaimer-Plot's mine, characters aren't

A Beating Heart

Rancha and Buruma stood back as Juuhachi vomited for the third time in 10 minutes. Juuhachi had thrown up everything that she'd eaten before she was absorbed a few months ago. This wasn't good. If this kept up, Juuhachi would lose all her strength.

"Come on," Rancha muttered, trying to straighten out Juuhachi when she lifted off the floor, her spine curling. All three of them were covered in blood. "Come on, Juuhachi."

Outside, the scene wasn't nearly as chaotic. In fact, it was quite serene. Well, except for Juunana, who was shooting ki beams at the sky in frustration. Kururin was sitting against the wall, quiet. No one dared to ask him one of the millions of question they had: Why her? Where did this happen? And most importantly, what did he plan on doing now?

Hours passed. The scene changed little. Chichi sat on the floor, keeping an eye on Goten, Akane, and Turankusu. Bejita occasionally looked over at his mirai son, who was grounding his foot into the floor to keep from exploding in anger. Juunana was still shooting ki beams into the sky. Everyone else was just waiting.

A huge scream rang out, a shriek that sounded like the mix of grating metal and an animal caught in the fire. Just as suddenly, it was gone.

Voices. Low voices. Then, the door opened. Buruma stepped out. Her legs were visibly shaking, and when she spoke, her voice matched.

"Kururin? I…I think you better come in here."

Kururin pulled himself up and walked into the room. The door shut, and silence resumed.

Within seconds, the door swung open again, and Kururin walked out. His face was as white as paper and it was a wonder, his legs could support him, quaking as they were. He walked past them all, face forward, not making a sound. No one spoke to him, and he seemed to not be aware of their presence.

He stopped at the edge of the balcony and rested his hands on the edge.

With a sudden, jerking motion he collapsed to his knees and started sobbing, his shoulders heaving.

"Kururin!" Goku yelled. He whirled around to face Buruma, who was standing at the door, a bundle wrapped in her arms.

"Buruma! What happened!"

She seemed unable to speak. Wordlessly, she opened the bundle and let the others crowd around to look.

"Oh my God!" Chichi gasped, clasping a hand to her mouth to prevent her from choking.

Visible, resting on her tiny chest, sat the child's heart. It was beating, all right. But it wasn't doing any good.

"This…this is the rarest case I know," Buruma managed to stutter. "A heart outside the chest…I don't know how to deal with this."

"Well, what are her chances?" Juuroko asked.

"We've got three hours before she dies." Buruma looked around at the faces clustered around her, and spoke the dreaded words: "There's only a 1 in 4 chance that she'll survive."

OH MY GOD! Things are really starting to heat up now! 1 in 4 chance, that's not good. But I'll tell you what _is_ good: REVIEWS! 


	5. We Need More Help

Disclaimer-I don't own characters, but my story is REAL original!

We Need More Help

Most of them were still mute with shock, and the others still holding the power of speech weren't talking. The scene was eerily silent after all the mayhem of the birth.

"Give me my child," they heard Juuhachi command in a low, deadly voice. When nobody moved, her maternal instincts, nowhere close to eliminated, kicked in. "GIVE ME MY CHILD!"

Buruma rushed in to hand the baby to Juuhachi, who clutched at her child with a highly possessive mien. She looked like she'd be ready to kill anyone who came near. Her eyes were glinting like a lion protecting her territory.

Against her better judgment, Rancha approached her. "Juuhachi," she said, "this is more than we can handle. I think we need to bring in…a doctor."

Just then, the most suprising emotion flashed through Juuhachi's eyes. Fear. Nobody except Kururin knew about her fears, and the greatest of all was doctors. The endless violation and abuse that Dr. Nijuu Gero had inflicted on her had stayed in the back of her memories and had stamped a fear of doctors into her forever.

"No," she growled.

"But…" Rancha began.

"NO!"

Kururin, still with tears in his eyes, somehow managed to straighten himself and stagger into the room. He kneeled beside her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Juuhachi," he whispered. "We have to. Our daughter will die without one."

She looked at him with tears in her eyes. Silence reigned until finally, she nodded.

"Okay," Rancha said, relieved. She was afraid that Juuhachi would refuse, and they'd lose all chances of saving the baby. Then she stopped and mused for a second. "We can't move her," she muttered. "So…we have to bring the doctor here." She snapped her head around. "Goku!"

"On it," he said, pressing two fingers to his forehead, and disappeared.

Well, here it is, what you've been waiting for. The 5th chapter. If I'm getting poetic…hey, there's a reason this is rated Drama! I think Juuhachi would've made a big deal out of the doctor thing, since of what I imagine Dr. Gero must've done to her. In fact, I'd go so far as to believe that he raped her.

Well, as I always put on the bottom of my other chapters…REVIEW!


	6. A Surprising Doctor

Disclaimer-*Bites lips* I hate this thing, so I won't say that I don't own DBZ…dang it! I just said it!

A Suprising Doctor

Maron sat in the doctor's lounge, drinking some coffee before her break was over. Yes, _Maron_, the one who dumped Kururin. Since losing all her boyfriends, she had decided it was time to get a life and a purpose. She lost most of her slutty ways and went back to college. Since then, she had found out how smart she actually was and had gotten a job as a doctor, and then a surgeon.

A strange noise brought her back from her daydream. Looking around, she saw Goku. She remembered him vaguely; the only factor of him being married had prevented her from flirting with him. "Goku?" she said, putting down her coffee cup.

"Maron?" he said, looking surprised. "I guess my aim was off. Can you tell me how to get to Orange Star Hospital?"

"This _is_ Orange Star Hospital," Maron said casually, taking another sip from her coffee cup.

Goku looked surprised. "Then what are _you_ doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious, Goku?" Maron said, taking another sip of her coffee. "I'm a doctor here."

Goku's jaw practically hit the ground. Recovering himself he reached out and grabbed her arm. "In that case, you're needed."

"Why? What for?" 

"Long story short, Kururin's wife has a baby whose heart is outside its body."

Maron yanked her arm free and stepped back. "Kururin has a wife?"

"As far as I know, yeah," Goku said. He reached for her arm again, but she stepped back.

"In that case, he can tend to his own family." 

"Maron!" Goku yelled at her.

"I don't help ex-boyfriends." She turned her back on him and walked to the door.

"You're the one who dumped him!" Goku ran in front of her and locked her way to the door.

"Get out of my way, Goku," Maron said, slowly, calmly, and deliberately. She stepped aside to walk past him.

"No." Goku was just as set in his mission.

"I won't go with you!"

SLAP! 

Maron staggered back, her hand at her flaming cheek and tears stinging in her eyes. Goku never, _ever_ hit anyone who wasn't his enemy.

"Maron." He took her hands and held them so she couldn't walk away. "You were the one who left him. You broke his heart, Maron. Helping his child live is how you can atone yourself in his eyes." He looked her deep in the eyes and she looked back at him. "Kururin still cares for you, though only as a friend. The woman he _does_ love is in need of desperate help now." He put his hand on her shoulder, still staring at her. "The baby needs you, Maron. Kururin needs you."

Maron looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. She wiped at her eyes with her arm, then looked at him again with a determined expression.

"Let's kick it."

Wow, there goes my sense! _Maron_ is a _doctor_? I'm going screwy, ain't I? Well, if you don't mind screwy writing, continue and REVIEW!!


	7. Fatal News

Disclaimer-What, you think I own DBZ? You're not stupid, are you?

Fatal News

Every head turned as Goku reappeared. Kururin was the first to reach him, but recoiled and stepped back when he saw who accompanied his best friend.

"Maron?" Kururin yelped.

"Where is she?" Maron said, not even acknowledging him. "Where's Kururin's wife?"

"Juuhachi's in there," Tienshinhan said, pointing to the 'Birthing Chambers'. "Rancha, Buruma, and Chichi are helping her."

Indeed, the situation had become so desperate that Chichi gave up her post as baby-sitter to Chiaotzu and went in to help Juuhachi.

"Thanks." Maron ran in, and Kururin ran in after her.

Maron whipped out her trusty doctor's bag and knelt beside Juuhachi. "Okay, let me see the baby," she said.

Juuhachi gently uncurled her arms from around her baby and showed her to Maron.

Maron winced. Even being a doctor, the sight of a organs not in its proper place made her teeth grind.

Maron held down the baby's arms and looked inside her chest. She bit her lip and grimaced. 'The veins are tangled together,' she thought. 'They're cutting off most of the blood circulation.' She blew air between tightly closed teeth. "This is bad."

"What's wrong?" Juuhachi asked. "What _exactly_ is the matter?"

"Well, her veins are tangled up in a bunch. If they aren't straightened, they will tighten and will irrevocably cut off the blood supply to most of her heart. Even the one vein that _is_ attached to her heart cant support her."

She blew a strand of hair off her face. "The problem is, I'm gonna have to make a few incisions, and that's an extremely dangerous procedure."

"Speak English," Juuhachi ordered in a low, deadly voice.

"We're going to have to cut her veins."

"YOU _WHAT_!?"

"We have to cut them so I can untangle them," Maron replied, trying to keep her voice calm.

"But that'll cut off her blood supply entirely!" Kururin shouted at her. "You go through with that and you're gonna kill her!"

"I know what I'm doing!" Maron yelled, surprising everyone in the room. 

"Wait," Chichi said. "What do you mean 'we'?"

"I can't do this alone. I have to take her back to the hospital."

"Oh, God," Juuhachi whispered so low that no one could hear her.

"Goku," Maron snapped.

"Right." He took hold of her shoulder-her arms busy holding the baby-and teleported away.

Keep on reviewing, people! 


	8. The Hospital

Disclaimer-Still don't own them

The Hospital

Already, Juuhachi was struggling to her feet. "I must…go with her…" she panted as she tried to steady herself. Her legs gave way and she fell again.

"Juu-chan, please!" Kururin pleaded. "You mustn't wear yourself out!"

"Kurin-chan," Juuhachi managed to choke out. For the first time in her life, her tear-filled eyes took a pleading look to them. "I _have_ to go. I brought her into this world…" with a hand on the wall she managed to straighten herself up, her head bowed against her chest as she panted. "And now…" Her head lifted, and her eyes had returned to their determined, never-take-no-for-an-answer gleam. "I have to make sure she survives it."

Goku and Maron landed in the hallway of Orange Star Hospital. "Goku, you stay in the Waiting Room," Maron ordered. "I'll get help."

Passing the baby into the crook of her right arm, she raced away, threw open a door, and ran to the front desk.

"Hey, Maron!" the receptionist, Hanako Kenji, greeted the blue-haired ex-slut. 

"Hey, Hanako," Maron greeted breathlessly. "Can you page Tenchi? It's an emergency!"

"What's the patient's status?" Dr. Tenchi Anda, the head surgeon, asked as he wheeled the small girl down the hall in a gurney.

"Newborn, heart outside chest, breathing but unconscious," Maron answered.

"And the parents?"

"Had to be left behind, should be here within today."

"Good." Dr. Anda pushed her into the OR and started shouting orders.

"Gohan, you know the Instant Transmission," Juuhachi stated rather bluntly. 

"Yeah." The Half-Saiyan looked at her, confused. "Why?"

"I need you to take me to Orange Star Hospital."

"What?!" Gohan yelped.

"You heard me," Juuhachi said.

"I…"

"Gohan, please," Kururin said. "Take her there. We'll follow."

"O-okay," stuttered the boy who just defeated Seru. He went uncomfortably to Juuhachi and lightly grabbed her arm. "Let's go."

He disappeared.

"Dad!"

"Gohan!" Goku was surprised to see his son there until he saw Juuhachi rounding the corner after him, as if she was in a marathon and had not just gave birth. There was still blood all over her, her face was ruddy pink with pain, and her hair was awry. 

"Where's my daughter?" Juuhachi demanded.

"Maron took her into the OR," Goku said. His expression hardened. "And I think _you_ should get some medical attention, too."

"No. I'm perfectly fine."

"Juuhachi, you have a baby with a heart problem who's born too early. You were absorbed by the biggest threat the Earth's ever faced. You look like you've been through Hell and back and you can barely breathe, let alone talk. You are seeing a doctor."

She looked away and stood quiet for a while.

"Do you want to die? What will that do to Kururin? And what if the baby dies, too? Can you imagine what it'll be like for him? Juuhachi…"

"Fine," she interrupted. "I'll see a God damn doctor."

"Good." Goku relaxed a bit. "You stay here, and I'll get one." He disappeared down the hall.

"He's relentless, isn't he?" Juuhachi said to Gohan.

"Be grateful it wasn't Mom. She'd be shoving you down the hall to ICU right now."

An hour passed, during which Goku went home with Gohan, Chichi, and Goten. Bulma stopped by to check in on Juuhachi, then went home with her family. The others all stopped by to check in on Juuhachi, then headed home. In the end, only Juuhachi, Kururin, Juunana, and Juuroko were left waiting in the hospital.

"Kururin?"

Kururin rushed to embrace his lover, who had just appeared from the ICU. "What's the news?"

"The doctors say I'm fine, and I should heal very quickly because I'm a cyborg. But they won't tell me anything about my baby."

"I think she's still in the OR. There's a viewing window, if we want to see."

"Oh, God, I don't think I can." Juuhachi sat down on a chair in the Waiting Room and buried her face in her hands.

"Everything's gonna be okay," Kururin said, sitting down next to her and touching her arm. 

Juuhachi looked up. "And if it isn't? Kururin, what if…what if she…"

"Juuhachi, don't even think it."

"I HAVE to, Kururin! You and I both know that she could die!"

"Then we'll get the Dragon and wish her back."

"I'll die before then…it would just be too much."

"Come on, Juuhachi, this isn't like you. You're always so strong…please be strong now…please."

Juuhachi looked over at Kururin, and she could see just how hard he was trying to be strong for her and their baby, just how hard he was trying to keep his own emotions from exploding, just how hard he was trying not to break down…and suddenly she felt a little selfish. This was as hard on him as it was on her.

She wiped her tears away with her arm and took a few deep breaths. "All right, Kururin."

"What?"

"I'm going…I'm going to see how well she's doing."

Juuhachi felt like throwing up, but she doubted she had anything left to throw up as she stared into the viewing window. She press her fist against the glass and leaned her head onto her fist.

'Please, Maron…please don't die on us…'

OK, I'm gonna stop there.

REVIEW!!


	9. Talking With Maron

Disclaimer-DBZ isn't mine

Talking With Maron

"I want to thank you."

Maron turned around to see Juuhachi in front of her. "Oh, it's you. We were never formally introduced. I'm Maron."

"Juuhachi-gou, but Kuririn calls me Juuhachi."

The two girls looked at each other. Silence reigned for a moment.

"He told me about you," Juuhachi said. "That he was going to propose to you, but you walked out on him for some pimp in a sports car."

"We were young and…no, I was young. Too young for him. We weren't right for each other. Still aren't."

"Well." Juuhachi coughed into her fist. "Are you married?"

"No."

"Engaged? Anything?"

"I have a friend. Satan, he calls himself. A widower with a daughter, Bideru, I think."

Juuhachi flinched a little on the word 'daughter'. 

"What about you and Kuririn? Are you two married?"

Juuhachi shook her head. (A/N: This is an AU, where the androids showed up only 1 year after Turankusu warned them instead of 3 years. Juuhachi escaped Seru and hid out with Kuririn until she was finally discovered and absorbed. The Seru games were held 3 years after the androids appeared) "Kuririn and I…have a very complicated relationship." 

"Oh." Before becoming a doctor, Maron would've pressed, but with her new, worldly perspective, she kept her mouth shut.

"Is my daughter going to be okay?" Juuhachi asked.

"I hope so," Maron said. "Her chances are slim. 1 out of 4."

"2 out of 8, 3 out of 12, 4 out of 16…"

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to come up with a statistic that makes her chances seems better."

"Oh, God, please don't. If you start that, I'm going to cry, and…"

Maron stopped talking, and then flung herself at 18 in a hug.

"Even if the baby dies, you'll…you'll stay with Kuririn, won't you? I was such an idiot to give up on something as good as his love…and he's so frail when it comes to matters of the heart…if you leave, he'll die. Please don't leave him."

Juuhachi had been too surprised to pull away from Maron's embrace, and she was even more surprised to find herself returning it.

"I'm not going to leave Kuririn," she said quietly.

"Good." Maron pulled back and wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. "Now, if you'll excuse me." She sniffled, and wiped away the last tear on her cheeks with her index finger. "I have to check on Kuririn, and then make my rounds."

"Kuririn."

Kuririn looked up as the blue-haired beauty came into the lobby. "Hi, Maron."

"I came to check up on you. And also to…apologize."

He was taken aback. "Apologize?"

"Yes. For walking out on you when you wanted to marry me. And when I came back, not being patient enough to wait for you."

"You came back?"

"Yes. You were away fighting."

"God." He put his head in his hands. "That's when I met Juuhachi."

"And here you said you were never popular with girls."

Krillin gave her a weak smile. "You were always popular with boys."

"Yes, well, that's not a very fulfilling way to live."

She sat down next to him and started fiddling with her coat ends.

"Maron?"

"Hmm?" She looked over at him.

"Why did you become a doctor?"

"Because…I had a baby."

"You WHAT?!"

"I had a little baby girl."

"Who's the father?"

Maron shook her head. "I named her Tenko, and she was the most beautiful baby in the world. I vowed that I would take care of her, even if I didn't know her father."

"Where is she?"

"In Orange Star cemetery."

"I'm sorry."

"Her father passed on a gene for mental retardation. She was slow in everything. I thought it was just a phase, and it would pass. But she began to get really sick very quickly, so I took her here. They said that it was too late to do anything. She…she died in my arms."

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry."

"I realized that I hadn't been able to do anything for her. And that if I hadn't been so slutty, she wouldn't have been born in the first place. That's when I woke up. And I decided to become a doctor. I had enough money to get into medical school. I graduated in 3 years. It usually takes 8 years, but they considered me a genius because I aced all of my classes and got to higher levels in a minimum amount of time. I wasn't a genius. It was just determination…determination that I could prevent more babies from dying, and more parents from going through the heartache of losing their children."

"I…I'm glad you did. Become a doctor, I mean. But with someone like this…the end doesn't justify the means, does it?"

"No. It doesn't."

"Paging Dr. Tenko."

"That's me." Maron stood up.

"Tenko?"

"I made it my last name."

She took off.

"What is it?" she asked Hanako at the desk.

"They need you in the OR. It appears that the baby they brought in is losing the fight."

"No…" Maron's face went white.

"Wash up and get your butt in there quick."

Maron was already gone.


End file.
